Fun with Bondrew

Once upon a time, there was a family birthday dinner to be had. And...everyone got sick. Well, almost everyone. And for once...it wasn't us!!! HA!
(ahem...no offense to those who...did...get sick...my deepest sympathies to you...)
Anyway, those of us left standing as strep throat went around The Hawkes Family decided to still gather and enjoy a Sunday evening together. This consisted of us and my brother Andrew and his wife Bonnie. (and Katie...I'm pretty sure she didn't have strep but she was in Provo as usual...but not for much longer!!! Woohoo!!!)
Anyway, I am just really distractable tonight.

Before Andrew and Bonnie came over, we had hometeachers coming. Right after church. Right in the eat-now-and-get-settled-in-for-rest-time-or-it's-not-going-to-happen-at-all time period. So, we solved this by moving the kids' table down to the entryway/front room when we got home and gave them lunch. And we sat and visited with our hometeachers. A pretty good deal.

They looked cute, albeit out of place.

(the primary/nursery handed out balloons that day)

But later in the evening, Andrew and Bonnie (henceforth known as Bondrew) showed up and brought some new energy to the household!
We visited and ate and PLAYED! Oh, the playing!

It was three-fold.

First, the kids introduced their aunt and uncle to the love sacs. They quickly learned the ways.
(Bonnie put great video of this on her blog!)

Andrew gives The BK (Ben's uncle-given nickname - - his initials) a good heave-ho!

So high!

and a nice little spin for Bethany!

Bonnie jumps in to the action with a willing Boo! (James' uncle-given nickname! This one comes from the fact that when Andrew came home from his mission, James was afraid of him. So, he started calling him Boo. The kids, as a whole are "The Boos" because...well...my kids are a bit...hesitant.)

And, of course, Bethany!

Then, as usual, they latch right on and decide to hold Bonnie as their prisoner.

This is actually quite effective.

But she escapes! And a little wrestling match ensues...

...followed by a little snuggling.

(though Boo looks like he is planning to thwart this!)

Our second matter of business was settling a long-time feud between me and Andrew as to who rocks more at Dr. Mario.

I can play a mean Dr. Mario. I discovered this during the time period when I was no longer working but just sitting at home waiting at the end of my pregnancy with Bethany. Mason was working late late nights and I would find myself rather bored. We had acquired a Nintendo (yes, the old old old ones) and I mastered the art of the stacking, rotating, killing off of colorful bacteria that is this video game (the only one I've ever really been any good at!).

Anyway, after realizing that Andrew found his skills worth advertising over the last couple of years, I thought I could teach him a lesson in respecting his elders. (or at least his elder sister) Bonnie tried to warn me ("He really is good. He can play the highest level...on two screens at once!") but I felt pretty confident.

I will leave it to your judgement to determine who won our playoff.

(though...I'll give you a hint...I think I need about ten more pregnancies worth of late nights to give him a challenge...the man is of another world...)

SO...moving on to a less embarassing portion of our playtime. :)

The kids determined that we needed to introduce them to the ballpit.

It's a right of passage into our world, really.

(Do you love the little toddler hand rail that JC installed a couple years ago? It is so perfect!)

The newcomers reluctantly entered...

I think Bonnie likes it!

The BK gives her a lesson in using the sides of the pit as a bouncing toy.

And then . . .

ATTACK!!!!

(I actually was busy or distracted or something at this point, JC had the camera. All I know is I looked over and Andrew was having to like, call the children off of his wife. It was very knightly.)

JC sends Boo sliding over to his uncle for some rough-housing!

Which, it appears, they both enjoyed.

Oh, it was a fun night. Life gets busy and we get self-involved with our little family and it's not often we get to just let loose with some siblings.

I love Andrew and Bonnie! My brother is awesome and he found an equally awesome chica to spend his forever with. We are so glad to have them as a part of our family.

I also love seeing the kids get more and more comfortable in their relationships with them . . . we've come a long way from Andrew's first couple of months back from his mission when the kids hid from him and the first couple of months Bonnie was around when they looked at her shy-ly from behind JC or I. :) Our sweet, hesitant children! Haha...I remember the first time Bonnie got James to smile and laugh with her, she danced around the kitchen for a minute or two!

Family is fun.